The Replacement
by Amethyst2
Summary: This story is about to undergo a very drastic rewrite. Especially chapter one. The writing quality will be much better and the plot will be more believable. Please hang on until then! Thanks, Amethyst.
1. In Which Malfoy Is Killed By A Hippogrif...

Harry watched his friends' faces light up as they recognized him, pulling his cart which was piled up with his suitcases behind him. Hermione and Ron had always been his very best friends, ever since that first day at Hogwarts.  
  
However, his eyes narrowed as he caught a glimpse of the face of one who had never been a friend; who, in fact, had been a very bitter enemy ever since that first day at Hogwarts.  
  
Malfoy saw the bitter glance, and blinked. It wasn't a very noticeable action, but the innocence and surprise in his look made Harry do a double take.   
  
But Malfoy had already turned away. Harry shrugged and went back to talking with his friends, deciding to chalk it up to Malfoy's extreme evilness acting up again.  
  
***  
~Could that be him?~ Kiya wondered. But then, the guy with the glasses narrowed his eyes and scowled at her. She blinked in surprise, then turned away.  
  
After all, the Ministry HAD told her that this Draco kid was a very nasty little guy. Really quite too bad about his death. But she still didn't think it was entirely his fault; after all, that hippogriff had just come out of nowhere. It wasn't really his fault… Then again, holding out the piece of steak and calling "Here, Buckbeak! C'mere! I know I saw you up there! Wait until Hagrid gets a load of this. HERE BUCKBEAK, YOU STUPID BEAST!" wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do, either.  
  
It had been a very strange scheme the Ministry had cooked up. After all, they needed SOMEONE to get into Hogwarts, especially since the rumors that Voldemort had arisen through events that had transpired at that school had started last year. And a student at that school had died while alone at the Ministry of Magic. Nobody, not even his own parents, knew about his death.  
  
And of course, there was the very strange coincidence that Kiya Crelsig just happened to look exactly like him.  
  
Not exactly, of course. No two people, even identical twins, can look exactly alike. Kiya's eyes were more blue than the boy's had been. She was several millimeters shorter, and her hair- Kiya winced at the memory- her beautiful hair had been cut short to match his. A simple letter to his parents saying that he was staying with a friend, a quick crash course in what Draco already knew- HAD already known, about Hogwarts, the classes and the teachers, and several letters received from the teachers at Hogwarts had trained her on what to expect, not only from the other Slytherins but also from all students.  
  
The only thing was, Kiya didn't feel very comfortable acting mean and nasty. So, she softened it a bit. Maybe she would just tell her friends- Draco's friends- that she had had a life-changing experience over the summer.  
  
And yet, it was more than just Draco's personality that Kiya had to deal with. It was, to put it bluntly, his maleness. Having to catch herself before she walked into the girl's bathroom. Having to make sure her robes were loose at the top just in case someone noticed *ahem* a couple of things which would give her away immediately. Having to deal with the roughness of the boys around her, even while she ached for the slightly gentler company of other girls.  
  
And yet, she was one of the Ministry's top agents. And the youngest too, only fourteen years old. It was a good thing Draco had been small and delicate, she thought to herself as she boarded the train, or I would never have been able to pass as him.  
  
She opened the door to her car, and saw Crabbe and Goyle sitting there, with Pansy Parkinson on the other side of the car, saving a seat.   
  
"Hi, Draco," Pansy said, giving Kiya a simpering smile, and patting the seat beside her. "C'mon and sit down, and give me a little kiss."  
  
Crabbe and Goyle snickered, and Kiya turned bright red. THIS was an aspect of Draco she hadn't expected to deal with. "I- I- I'm sorry, but I've already promised-" she tried to remember the names of the other Slytherins, "Millicent that I would sit with her. Excuse me." She darted out the door, slamming it behind her on Pansy's yell of rage and disbelief, and dashed down the corridor to the last car, as far away from that girl and her intentions as possible.  
  
***  
"So, how're the Chudley Cannons doing in the league?" Harry asked Ron. Ron' eyes brightened as they always did when talking about his favorite team.  
  
"They've already beaten the Wimbourne Wasps! What a fantastic match, I think they're on the rebound from that losing streak!"   
  
"They only won because both the Wasps' Seeker and their backup Seeker got booted from the game," Hermione said in her lecturing tone. "They didn't have a replacement, so they had to play short."  
  
"It was still an incredible match," Ron argued.  
  
At that moment, the door banged open, and a breathless Draco Malfoy leaped through, slamming the door behind him as if Fluffy himself was after him. He heaved a huge sigh of relief, then turned around, spotted Harry, and said a bad word.  
  
"Nice to see you too, Malfoy," Harry said sarcastically. "What's wrong, did you-"  
  
"Just shut up," Draco panted. After a moment, he slid into the seat next to Harry and put his head in his hands. Harry leaned away from the blond boy, who looked absolutely worn out. "There aren't any other seats in the entire bloody train," he said finally. "So I guess that means I'll have to be sitting with you all," he seemed to hesitate, "even though I'm sure the smell will kill me."  
  
"There, that's more like the good old Malfoy we know," Ron said, staring at Harry. "I was beginning to wonder."  
  
Harry gave Malfoy another searching look, then changed chairs so that he was next to Ron. Malfoy was alone on his side of the car, and he still had his head in his hands.   
  
***  
~They know, they can see right through me,~ Kiya thought, her head in her hands. ~I've already failed, Harry will find out that I'm not Draco Malfoy and he'll start spreading it around. Then I'll be fired from my job, if I'm not caught and killed by Voldemort first.~   
  
It had been a very long day, and it was only going to get longer. So nobody could have blamed her when she leaned against the side of the carriage and dozed off, with Harry Potter and his two friends still staring at herike se was insane.  
  
A few minutes later, she woke up to the sound of voices, even though she kept her eyes closed.  
  
"Don't you touch him, Ron Weasley!"  
  
"Why not? It wouldn't be permanent."  
  
"And he deserves it, Hermione, you know that."  
  
"But look at him! He's helpless. I think there might be something really seriously wrong with him, the way he came tearing in here. It wouldn't be right to do that-"  
  
"But it would be FUN!" Ron interjected. "After all, it's not like he won't get over walking around with horns sticking out of his head for the next few weeks!"  
  
THAT sentence made Kiya jerk completely awake.   
  
***  
  
"Rats," Ron said, "you woke him up. Now we won't get to do anything."  
  
The train started to slow down, then suddenly jerked to a stop as the Express rested at Hogsmeade Station. Hermione stood up, and opened the door, at the same time Draco stood up. The train had not come to a complete stop, however, and jerked once more, sending Draco crashing into Hermione.  
  
"Oh, sorry! Are you all right?" Draco reached out a hand to help Hermione up, then pulled it back looking stricken. He started to say something, but then turned and walked quickly out the door.  



	2. In Which Kiya Is Punched In The Face And...

  
Kiya Crelzig was lonely. Not only were classes at Hogwarts difficult, but also she had to deal with the fact that she was disguised as a student who had probably been the most foul-mouthed evil jerk in the whole school.   
  
Draco hadn't had many friends, she found out quickly. Just those two lumbering hulks of flesh, Crabbe and Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson, who was now snubbing Kiya.   
  
In order to avoid Crabbe and Goyle, Kiya spent most of her time between classes at the library. That was one place that the two boys were most likely to avoid.  
  
However, it was also the place where Kiya was most likely to run into Hermione Granger. Obviously, Granger suspected something was up, because Kiya kept catching the Gryffindor staring at her over the tops of textbooks. Kiya wasn't sure whether to leave to avoid Hermione, or to stay and avoid the other Slytherins.  
  
***  
  
Hermione stared at Malfoy over the top of her textbook, and was sure for a minute that the Slytherin was staring back. Then, Malfoy hid his face once again behind a huge book, coincidentally the same one that Hermione was pretending to read.  
  
Hermione was absolutely sure that something was wrong with Malfoy. Maybe Malfoy was changing, just a little bit. He hadn't called her "Mudblood" all year, and he had even held open the library door for her once. Maybe, just maybe, Malfoy wasn't as bad as he seemed.  
  
Of course, when she shared these views with Ron, he heartily disagreed.  
  
"Malfoy? Change? Ha!" Ron shook his head. "Malfoy's a Death Eater just like his dad. He'll never change."  
  
But Hermione was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, Malfoy HAD changed.   
  
***  
It was Potions class, and to say Harry was not looking forward to it would have been a severe understatement, especially with the double curse of having it with the Slytherins.   
  
Snape spent twenty minutes explaining carefully how to make an enlargement potion, then told them he would be splitting them up into pairs.   
  
Harry stepped closer to Ron and hoped that for once Snape would take it easy on him, but Snape just smiled nastily at him, and pulled him over to be with Malfoy.  
  
Harry watched the blond Slytherin, waiting for the usual evil smirk and rude comments that he usually gave to Harry, but Malfoy seemed to be concentrating on the potion instead of on Harry.   
  
The whole class worked in silence for a few minutes, mixing elephant milk, powdered griffin teeth and other ingredients into their cauldrons.   
  
"Would you pass the aconite?" Harry jerked up and stared at Malfoy.   
  
"What?"  
  
"Please pass the aconite," Malfoy repeated, pointing past Harry at the dish of leaves on Harry's side of the table.   
  
Stunned, Harry slid the bowl over.  
  
"Thanks," Malfoy said, grabbing some of the contents of the bowl and dumping them in.   
  
Harry stared wide-eyed at Malfoy, not believing what he was hearing. ~Maybe Hermione was right,~ he thought to himself. ~Maybe he is changing.~  
  
***  
It was late at night, Kiya thought. Actually, it was just really, really early in the morning, but Kiya wasn't paying attention to the clock chiming twice. She was concentrating on sneaking out of the Slytherin common room, and up the stairs to the library. The Slytherin dorm was several floors underneath the school, and the library was on the second story, so Kiya had a long way to go.   
  
Once in the library, after having several near-run-in's with Filch, she started to paw through the copies of the Daily Prophet, and other magical periodicals. The library at Hogwarts had the most complete selection of newspapers and magazines of any library in Europe.   
  
She quickly flipped through the Prophets, until she found one with a very interesting headline. "Let's see, four champions of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, with Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory sharing representation of Hogwarts." She flipped forward a few weeks. "Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter share the lead, and are well prepared for the third and final task in two weeks." And then, several months later, "Tri-Wizards tournament ends in terror, champion rumored dead."   
  
Of course, she knew that Cedric Diggory had died. But none of the papers said what exactly had happened that night that the Hogwarts champion had died. Several newspapers, but not the Daily Prophet, seemed to point to suspicious circumstances surrounding the final dash for the prize. But one thing was for sure: Harry Potter alone knew what exactly had happened that night.   
  
Potter had entered the maze with Diggory. The other two champions were found stunned in the maze, of unknown cause. Potter and Diggory had been sighted by a certain sphinx both heading for the Cup. And then, Potter and Diggory had suddenly reappeared at the prize, but one of them was dead.   
  
Kiya's brows knitted as she considered this, staring hard at the papers in front of her. It sounded like, if anything strange had happened, it had happened in that period of time between Potter and Diggory's disappearance and their reappearance. It also sounded like the only way she was going to find out what happened was to ask Harry himself.  
  
Not the easiest thing to accomplish when she was supposed to be his most hated enemy.   
  
  
Kiya was still a bit sleepy as she walked down the halls to History of Magic, so she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. She stopped to yawn heavily.  
  
Quite suddenly, someone banged into her so hard that her books flew everywhere. She looked up to see a smaller red-head girl walking down the hallway.  
  
"Hey, watch where you're going, creep!" Kiya called out, then sighed as she bent down to pick up her books.  
  
"I don't care how you want to insult me, Draco Malfoy!" The girl turned around. Kiya seemed to remember someone saying that she was Ron's sister.  
  
"I'm not trying to insult-"  
  
"I don't care what you have to say!" Ginny snapped. "I'm sorry I knocked into you, but I'm in a bad mood, and I could care less what you think, so just shut your trap!"  
  
Kiya felt her temper rise. The combination of too little sleep and too much to think about had made her a bit edgy.  
  
***  
Ron slammed the door as he stormed through the halls. He and Ginny had just had a very bitter argument over why he wouldn't let her go to Hogsmeade with him and his friends.   
Now he was in a bad mood; and to judge by the way Ginny had stormed off, she was in a bad mood too.  
  
Unfortunately, the next hallway he turned into was the same one Ginny had chosen.   
  
Ron raised his eyebrows at the scene in front of him. Ginny was staring at Malfoy, hands on her hips. Somebody's books were strewn about the floor, and Draco was standing up and opening his mouth to say something.  
  
"Look, you jerk, I didn't ask for you to come barreling into me like a rampaging elephant. Maybe next time you'll watch where you're going!"   
  
Ron felt a surge of protectiveness towards his sister. Even if he was mad at her, he wasn't going to stand there and let Malfoy insult her! He stomped forward, and tapped the blond on the shoulder.   
  
Malfoy turned around, and had a split second to look startled before Ron's fist met his face.   
POW!  
  
"Ron!" Ginny squealed in astonishment. "I knocked him over, you didn't have to do that!"  
  
Ron stared down in astonishment at Malfoy, who seemed to be unconscious, then back at his little sister. "Oh."   
  
"Yeah, 'oh.'" Ginny said, but she didn't sound really angry.  
  
"I'm sorry, Gin. I just saw him yelling at you, and I felt like-" Ron pounded his fist into his open hand suggestively. "You're my sister, after all. Can't let creeps like Malfoy bug you."  
  
Ginny hugged him, grinning and crying at the same time.   
  
"C'mon, I'll walk you to class," Ron said, patting her on the back.  
  
Ginny pulled away. "Does that mean I can go to Hogsmeade with you and Harry?"  
  
"No!" Ron snapped, feeling very annoyed until he saw that Ginny was giggling. "We better get going, before we're late for class."  
  
They both stepped over Malfoy's prone body, arms around each other's shoulders.   
  
Malfoy opened his eyes, and sat dizzily up. "What the heck just happened?"  



	3. In Which Hermione Gets Squished

  
Author's Note: Heya guys! Sorry about the last two chapters, I will TRY to do more from Harry and Hermione's POV's instead of traveling down Mary Sue Lane so often.   
Also, if Kiya seems a bit more Malfoy-like from other people's points of view, it's because of two things. Numero Uno: The stress is really getting to her. Number Ni: Everyone else is expecting her to act like Malfoy, so they see her actions as a bit more Malfoy-like than she herself sees them.  
Anyway, happy reading!  
  
Harry and Ron both groaned aloud as Hagrid's lesson started out with the half-giant pulling something large and dangerous looking out from behind his cabin. It was a very furry creature nearly five feet high, with five legs and several dangerous looking fangs sticking out from its mouth, which was in the center of its body.   
  
"Quintapeds!" A Slytherin shouted, and several people from both houses screamed. Double Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins was usually a very big disaster, especially when Hagrid had a particularly dangerous creature to talk about.  
  
"Be careful, now," Hagrid cautioned, chaining the Quintaped to a pole in front of his cabin, "she likes t'eat people, ya know, and she might try an' take a bit outta one of ya."  
  
The entire group stepped back as one. Harry and Ron exchanged glances, each trying to figure out a polite way to tell Hagrid that this creature was not one they wanted to learn to care for.  
  
Hagrid stepped back, as the Quintaped lunged at him. "Whoa now, Buttercup, don't get too riled up," he said, waving his hands at the monster while he stepped away.  
  
"Isn't it illegal to try and capture one of these things?" One of the Gryffindor girls asked.  
  
"Yeah!" Several of the other students agreed. Several looked as if they wished they could run in the opposite direction of the monster, but didn't dare.  
  
"Now, I'll get some stuff for ya ta' feed 'er," Hagrid said, turning around and taking a step towards his cabin.  
  
Harry suddenly noticed Malfoy stepped forward to get a better look at the beast.   
  
"These ARE illegal!" Harry heard him whisper. The Slytherin took another step forward, and then-  
  
The Quintaped lunged at Malfoy, who took a half step back. Then, with a terrible crack, the chain broke. The monster lunged at Malfoy, who let out a yell.  
  
"Stupefy!" Harry had his wand out in a moment, but the spell hit the creature with no effect. It only turned to stare at him with all five eyes, and crouched down, about to lunge again.  
  
"NO YA' DON'T!" Thankfully, Hagrid had realized what was happening, and had dived on top of the creature. Though it looked strong and vicious, it was no match for Hagrid's superior size and weight, and was pinned down as Hagrid reattached the chain to the Quintaped's legs.   
  
"There, now, that'll hold 'er," Hagrid muttered. "Now, if ya'd open yer books ter page 34, ya can read 'bout the Quintaped, and the legend 'bout s'creation."  
  
Harry turned to Ron to ask if he had brought the book they shared, but saw Malfoy staring at him, and paused to stare back for a moment, before turning to Ron again.  
  
***  
~He saved my life.~  
Kiya stared at the Potter kid, who stared back for a moment returning to conversation with his friend. ~He saved my life, and he didn't even blink.~ She tried not to think it, but the thought came anyway. ~How could I suspect somebody so nice of murder?~  
  
And Kiya DID suspect him of something, though certainly not murder. Kiya was trying to figure out what in the world could have happened to him during that period he and Diggory were missing. She had a feeling that that was the key to the Voldemort rumors.   
  
She would have to approach Harry soon, and try to make peace for whatever problems this Malfoy person had caused in past years.   
  
***  
  
Harry and Hermione were studying together for a Transfiguration assignment, (Ron was spending some time with Ginny,) when Draco Malfoy slammed his books down on their library table.   
  
"We need to talk." Malfoy said seriously, staring Harry right in the eye.  
  
"About what?" He asked, trying to figure out what in the world would have happened that would make Malfoy want to talk to him.  
  
"Listen, I need your help with something important. Really important." Malfoy's eyes flickered briefly to Hermione, before returning to Harry again.   
  
"What?" Harry asked again, leaning forward slightly.   
  
"It's about-" Malfoy cut himself off as a Slytherin sixth year entered the room. "It's- never mind." Malfoy stood up and walked away, not looking back once.  
  
The intensity of Malfoy's gaze left Harry shocked for a moment. The Slytherin had never looked at Harry like that before. The only looks Malfoy had given him before today were looks of scorn.   
  
No, that wasn't right. When he had been about to board the Hogwarts Express, Malfoy had given him a strange, different look.   
  
Harry suddenly realized that Hermione had been saying something. "What?"  
  
"I said that I think something is really wrong with Malfoy. I think you should try and talk to him very soon." Hermione was watching Malfoy's retreating form with a little too much interest. "Maybe he's mixed up with the Death Eaters or something, and he wants out. Maybe-"  
  
"Maybe you're just reading a little too much into his behavior," Harry interrupted her string of "maybe's." "I don't think he's changed. He's still Malfoy. It's not like he's a completely different person or anything."  
  
~But for some reason,~ Hermione thought, ~I feel like he IS a completely different person.~   
  
Too bad Hermione didn't know how right she was.   
  
***  
  
That Tuesday night, for what felt like the millionth time since she arrived at Hogwarts, Kiya watched the other Slytherins settle down for the night. And then, under cover of darkness, she slipped out of the dorm, out of the Common Room, and into the halls of Hogwarts, unseen by ghost, student or teacher.  
  
Moments later, she was in McGonagall's office. The room wasn't stark and empty, but the decor did suggest a strictly plain person worked there. Everything was corners and angles, and all the colors matched painfully well.  
  
After very quietly searching the desk drawers for a few moments, Kiya found something useful. A small red book, with the name "Minerva McGonagall" printed in gold on the front. She settled down to read.  
  
It was a diary, half full, of the last three years. While she ignored the more personal passages, she did scan through the ones discussing the Tri-Wizard Tournament of last year. Described in detail here were the tasks, as well as how the Champions completed them. McGonagall had also recorded how it seemed that Harry Potter must have been getting help from an outside source. No student had a ready supply of gillyweed on hand, she wrote, and yet Potter had managed to produce some just in time to complete the second task with flying colors.  
  
After copying down a few important notes onto some blank parchment, Kiya carefully replaced the diary, and snuck back into the Slytherin dorm.   
  
  
  
From the looks McGonagall was giving her the next day, Kiya was sure that the Gryffindor teacher knew about her little midnight escapade. The only teacher here who knew exactly what who she was and why she was here was Dumbledore. McGonagall might do something drastic if she caught "Malfoy" snooping around the teacher's offices in the middle of the night.  
  
However, after Transfiguration class was over, and Kiya was about to leave, McGonagall called both her and Hermione Granger back to her desk.  
  
***  
  
"Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy, I wanted to talk to the both of you."  
  
Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise, and turned to look at Harry and Ron, who were already halfway out the door.   
  
'We'll wait out here for you,' Harry mouthed, but Hermione shook her head and waved them on with one hand. Ron shrugged, and tugged Harry out the door by the sleeve of his jacket.  
  
"Mister Malfoy, I am very sorry to inform you that you are failing this class," McGonagall said, staring sternly at the Slytherin.  
  
"Failing?" Malfoy's voice rose an octave on the last syllable. He looked genuinely shocked.  
  
"Your grades, which have never been very outstanding, have taken a drastic drop in the last few weeks." McGonagall shook her head, pulling out some test papers from her desk drawer. "Twenty-two points out of fifty, forty-eight out of a hundred, and finally, ten out of eighty." She dropped the papers on the desk, and sighed. "I am sure you would not want your father to know that you are failing this class."  
  
Malfoy was visibly shaken. Suddenly recovering, he scowled, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "So, I'll study harder."  
  
"That is exactly what I have in mind. As Hermione is the top student in this class, I have in mind a tutoring schedule."  
  
"What?" Both Malfoy and Hermione said it as one. Hermione bit her lip, and glanced at Malfoy, who looked angry now.  
  
"I said I'll study harder-"  
  
"It will just be until the end of this week. On Friday, I will be giving out another exam. If this tutoring deal works, and you score 70% or higher, I will not inform your parents. However, if you don't succeed in raising your grade…" McGonagall trailed off in an ominous manner that made even Hermione shiver. "This classroom will be empty from eight o'clock tonight until nine, and I suggest you two make use of that time. I will be waiting here until eight to make sure you both," she stressed the word, grimacing at Malfoy, "arrive here promptly."  
  
Hermione tried to smile at Malfoy, who was scowling even more darkly at the floor, hands stuffed into his pockets as if he expected to find the golden Snitch at the bottom of one of them.  
  
They both turned away from McGonagall, who had gone back to sorting test papers, at the same time, and unconsciously fell into step together.  
  
"So, I guess I'll see you tonight?" Hermione asked Malfoy pleasantly.   
  
"How could I be failing?" Malfoy muttered to himself, ignoring Hermione, even though the two of them sere walking right next to each other down the hall.  
  
"Maybe because you never study, or maybe because you could care less about important things like schoolwork!" Hermione said, more sharply than she'd intended. But the more time she spent with Malfoy, the easier it was to remember all those times he'd called her "Mudblood" and made fun of her teeth.  
  
"Maybe," Malfoy hissed, turning to her, "I have more *important* things on my mind than schoolwork." He seemed about to say more, but turned away. "I'll see you at eight." The way he said it, the phrase seemed almost a threat instead of a promise.  
  
  
Later, at lunch, Harry and Ron both wanted to know what the Transfiguration teacher had wanted from Hermione.   
  
"Nothing important," Hermione told them, but they wouldn't drop it.  
  
"What was it?" Ron sidled closer. "C'mon, you can tell us, Hermy. Did you only get 99 out of 100 instead of your normal perfect grade?"  
  
"She wants me to tutor another student who's failing the class," Hermione told them shortly. "We're meeting tonight for the first study session."  
  
"Oh, who is it?" Harry asked, also sidling closer.  
  
"You guys are squishing me!" Hermione yelped, pushing both of them away so hard that they feel to the ground.  
  
Whump! Whump!   



End file.
